Why I agree with Phil Lawler, and disagree with The Anchoress

I love Elizabeth Scalia, aka The Anchoress, and I very much appreciate her effort yesterday to inject a new perspective into the controversy over New York’s Saint Patrick’s Day Parade and the LGBT group that will be marching in it: a perspective that seeks to be thoughtful and compassionate as well as orthodox.

This is important, because Catholics have historically done a poor job loving our neighbors who are same-sex attracted and/or self-identify as gay. (For the purposes of this discussion, by “gay” I simply mean those who identify as gay.)

Unjust hostility toward the same-sex attracted, and fear of being associated or identified with them, are real phenomena with deep roots in human...READ MORE

Thoughts on the Third Commandment

In our neighborhood, on almost any day of the week, you might walk into a supermarket and notice a conservatively dressed woman with a hat and skirt and a rather large number of children in tow, and you might make a shrewd guess that she was a conservative or orthodox Jew, and there’s a good chance that you would be right.

On almost any day, that is, except the Sabbath. From sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, those women and their children vanish. The kosher aisle is deserted, the kosher deli shuttered. Conservative and orthodox Jews take the Sabbath seriously.

The Muslim women are easier to spot. The women wear the hijab or head scarf, sometimes with Western clothes, sometimes with the...READ MORE

Well, here we are at the end of another busy summer season. Sarah is back at Christendom, and I’m back at Immaculate Conception Seminary with my fellow diaconal candidates as we begin year 3 of our studies. More than halfway there!

This year, though, my retreat into reviewing semi-hiatus comes with a twist: I have a couple of exciting announcements coming in the short term.

Now, I’m sadly aware that I’ve been teasing a couple of big exciting announcements that keep on retreating indefinitely—but trust me, these ones are coming sooner rather than later. How much sooner? Next week, for one. For the other, the plan is by New Year’s, 2015, if not sooner. (These are both new announcements....READ MORE

Updated: Recently my Reel Faith cohost David DiCerto had a chance to sit down with Jim Caviezel and chat about his upcoming movie When the Game Stands Tall. Here’s their full interview. (Watch for the summer season finale of Reel Faith this week; here’s where and when. And check out the latest Reel Faith reviews below!)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (SDG)

Thanks to this film, I’ll be adding “Shrinking World Syndrome” to SDG’s Very, Very Little Movie Glossary. You know, how it turns out that the Joker killed Batman’s parents, Anakin Skywalker created C-3PO, and now April O’Neil is connected to the Turtles’ origins.

(Or: What I Did On My Summer Vacation)

“Christ in Majesty” is the official name of the striking, somewhat controversial mosaic on the apse wall of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC, but someone Suz and I once knew jokingly nicknamed it “the Christ of Muscle Beach,” in reference to its half-bared chest and arm, muscular build and intimidating gaze.

It’s a nickname that came back to me last week on family vacation in Wildwood Crest, New Jersey, as I worked on a sand sculpture of a subject I’ve done a couple of times in the past, though not in eight years: the crucifixion of Jesus.

Not just because I was actually at the beach, but also because, in part due to my lifelong love of...READ MORE

In our latest episode of Reel Faith, David and I review Guardians of the Galaxy and Hercules, and chat about superhero movies with Father John Cush, a movie and comic-book buff who has taught classes on superheroes. (Find out where and when to watch Reel Faith.)

Bonus: Our 30-plus minute conversation with Father Cush wouldn’t all fit on the show … but you can watch the whole thing right here.

Hercules (SDG)

A question I couldn’t get to in 60 seconds: What’s the real story with the creepy, green spaced-out tribal warriors? Can anyone explain that?

Lucy (DD)

Director Luc Besson says the beginning is Leon The Professional, the middle is Inception and the end is 2001: A Space Odyssey....READ MORE

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes continues to dominate the U.S. box office, while Disney’s Planes: Fire & Rescue, like the live-action sci-fi family film Earth to Echo, barely took off. In addition to the 60-second reviews of all these films below, David and I review Dawn and Planes as well as and the musical drama Begin Again in our latest episode of “Reel Faith.” (Find out where and when to watch Reel Faith — and check out our new website.)

Earth to Echo (DD)

About Steven D. Greydanus

Steven D. Greydanus is film critic for the National Catholic Register and Decent Films, the online home for his film writing. He writes regularly for Christianity Today, Catholic World Report and other venues, and is a regular guest on several radio shows. Steven has contributed several entries to the New Catholic Encyclopedia, including “The Church and Film” and a number of filmmaker biographies. He has also written about film for the Encyclopedia of Catholic Social Thought, Social Science, and Social Policy. He has a BFA in Media Arts from the School of Visual Arts in New York, and an MA in Religious Studies from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Overbrook, PA. He is pursuing diaconal studies in the Archdiocese of Newark. Steven and Suzanne have seven children.